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Virtual Worlds Accessible for Blind People
By Robert | September 21, 2007
Research performed by students at IBM Ireland could transform in online virtual worlds accessible for blind people. According to statistics, in 4 years we will see 80 percent of Internet users involved in the utilization of a virtual world. IBM does not want blind people to be left out and the result is the development of a virtual world that utilizes 3D sound to create the sense of space.
The project is called “Accessibility In Virtual Worlds” and unfortunately it is still in the developing stages. The good news is that the students did a great job and their project will be moved to the IBM Human Ability and Accessibility Centre in
The team of researchers did not use the highly popular Second Life world because it has around 9 million accounts and the use of the Active Worlds online environment allowed more flexibility. By utilizing a web browser plug in, any user can access a multitude of online worlds created by different users. As most virtual worlds, Active Worlds also allows for the individual to create most of the surroundings, thus adding creativity and imagination to the mix, elements that are responsible for the increased popularity of Second Life and other virtual worlds.
We can notice the fact that the research team fully exploited this characteristic to play with objects in a virtual world. When a blind person will step into the environment he/she will get special descriptions and details as to the position of the items. A sound will be attached as well and all is done through special tools, mainly consisting of text to speech functions that add interaction. It will be very interesting to see how the project evolves and how this will impact the Virtual World.
Topics: Tech News |
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